The fifth minister row proved to be a major bone of contention in the UDF Government, and created major fissures within the coalition, just one year after the Front came to power with a narrow margin. The loss of image suffered over the imbroglio, owing to the general feeling that the Congress yielded beyond all limits to placate the IUML, is still haunting the Chandy government.
The IUML doggedly pursued the fifth ministerial berth, maintaining that even the choice of Manjalamkuzhi Ali was declared by the party leadership after the elections. The party claimed that Chandy had made such a commitment, which the latter neither approved nor denied. As the Congress was preparing for the swearing-in of Anoop Jacob post the win in Piravom, the IUML put its foot down, negating any scope for a compromise on the fifth minister for the party. The bonhomie which had existed till then between the UDF and the majority community organisations, evaporated in the aftermath of the controversy. Even a minor reshuffle in the cabinet, by offering prominent portfolios to Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan (Home and Vigilance) and Adoor Prakash (Revenue), belonging to the Nair and Ezhava communities respectively, couldn’t undo the damage in the public domain, and stamped the UDF with the moniker of a caste-appeasement.
Coalition partners were wary of sentiments against the IUML gaining momentum and eventually, resulted in some plainspeak at the liaison committee meeting. Now, even the party knows full well that there are a lot of misgivings against IUML, with most of its leaders taking the cautious approach, and quietly seeking to make amends. But whatever steps have been taken, the abject ‘surrender’ of Congress to IUML and the consequent humiliation to the majority community did result in a perceptible change in the public mood, and the ghost of it has haunted the government throughout the year.